The primary goal of this book is to summarize and synthesize recent advances in the biological study of aggression. Other than maternal aggression, most aggressive encounters among human and ...
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The primary goal of this book is to summarize and synthesize recent advances in the biological study of aggression. Other than maternal aggression, most aggressive encounters among human and non-human animals represent a male proclivity; thus, most of the research in this book describes and discusses studies using the most appropriate murine model: testosterone-dependent offensive inter-male aggression, which is typically measured in resident-intruder or isolation-induced aggression tests. The research emphasizes various molecules that have been linked to aggression tests. It also emphasizes various molecules that have been linked to aggression by the latest gene-targeting and pharmacological techniques. Although the evidence continues to point to androgens and serotonin (5-HT) as major hormonal and neurotransmitter factors in aggressive behavior, recent work with GABA, dopamine, vasopressin, and other factors, such as nitric oxide, has revealed significant interactions with the neural circuitry underlying aggression.Less

Biology of Aggression

Published in print: 2005-09-22

The primary goal of this book is to summarize and synthesize recent advances in the biological study of aggression. Other than maternal aggression, most aggressive encounters among human and non-human animals represent a male proclivity; thus, most of the research in this book describes and discusses studies using the most appropriate murine model: testosterone-dependent offensive inter-male aggression, which is typically measured in resident-intruder or isolation-induced aggression tests. The research emphasizes various molecules that have been linked to aggression tests. It also emphasizes various molecules that have been linked to aggression by the latest gene-targeting and pharmacological techniques. Although the evidence continues to point to androgens and serotonin (5-HT) as major hormonal and neurotransmitter factors in aggressive behavior, recent work with GABA, dopamine, vasopressin, and other factors, such as nitric oxide, has revealed significant interactions with the neural circuitry underlying aggression.

This book presents a simple description of the biological mechanisms that are involved in the determination of sexual orientation in animals and also presumably in humans. Using scientific studies ...
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This book presents a simple description of the biological mechanisms that are involved in the determination of sexual orientation in animals and also presumably in humans. Using scientific studies published over the last few decades, it argues that sexual orientation, both homosexual and heterosexual, is under the control of embryonic endocrine and genetic phenomena in which there is little room for individual choice. The book begins with animal studies of the hormonal and neural mechanisms that control the so-called instinctive behaviors and analyzes how this animal work may potentially apply to humans. The book does not focus exclusively on homosexuality, however. Instead, the book acts as a broader guide to the biological basis of sexual orientation, and also discusses important gender differences that may influence sexual orientation.Less

The Biology of Homosexuality

Jacques Balthazart

Published in print: 2011-12-02

This book presents a simple description of the biological mechanisms that are involved in the determination of sexual orientation in animals and also presumably in humans. Using scientific studies published over the last few decades, it argues that sexual orientation, both homosexual and heterosexual, is under the control of embryonic endocrine and genetic phenomena in which there is little room for individual choice. The book begins with animal studies of the hormonal and neural mechanisms that control the so-called instinctive behaviors and analyzes how this animal work may potentially apply to humans. The book does not focus exclusively on homosexuality, however. Instead, the book acts as a broader guide to the biological basis of sexual orientation, and also discusses important gender differences that may influence sexual orientation.

Aromatase—or estrogen, as it is commonly known—is present in the brain and has been the subject of much recent research, not only with regard to menopause and the dwindling supply of estrogen and its ...
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Aromatase—or estrogen, as it is commonly known—is present in the brain and has been the subject of much recent research, not only with regard to menopause and the dwindling supply of estrogen and its impact on cognition, but the role estrogen in aging and plasticity in the brain. This book provides a review of what is known about aromatase and its distribution and regulation in the brain, and its many effects on behavior. The volume covers research on mammals (from rats to monkeys), as well as work done on birds, reptiles and amphibians, and fishes. Topics range from behavioral effects (genomic) of locally produced estrogen in the brain; aromatase and sexual differentiation; rapid changes in brain aromatase as a result of environmental effects; aromatase and brain repair; the rapid effects of estrogens on behavior; rapid effect of estrogen on sensory (auditory) processing; and a concluding statement on current challenges to research.Less

Brain Aromatase, Estrogens, and Behavior

Published in print: 2012-10-19

Aromatase—or estrogen, as it is commonly known—is present in the brain and has been the subject of much recent research, not only with regard to menopause and the dwindling supply of estrogen and its impact on cognition, but the role estrogen in aging and plasticity in the brain. This book provides a review of what is known about aromatase and its distribution and regulation in the brain, and its many effects on behavior. The volume covers research on mammals (from rats to monkeys), as well as work done on birds, reptiles and amphibians, and fishes. Topics range from behavioral effects (genomic) of locally produced estrogen in the brain; aromatase and sexual differentiation; rapid changes in brain aromatase as a result of environmental effects; aromatase and brain repair; the rapid effects of estrogens on behavior; rapid effect of estrogen on sensory (auditory) processing; and a concluding statement on current challenges to research.

How important are biological factors, such as hormones, in shaping our sexual destinies? This book brings social developmental, biological, and clinical psychological perspectives to bear on the ...
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How important are biological factors, such as hormones, in shaping our sexual destinies? This book brings social developmental, biological, and clinical psychological perspectives to bear on the factors that shape our development as male or female and that cause individuals within each sex to differ from one another in sex-related behaviors. Topics covered include sexual orientation, childhood play; spatial, mathematical, and verbal abilities; nurturance, aggression, dominance, handedness, brain structure, and gender identity.Less

Brain Gender

Melissa Hines

Published in print: 2005-05-26

How important are biological factors, such as hormones, in shaping our sexual destinies? This book brings social developmental, biological, and clinical psychological perspectives to bear on the factors that shape our development as male or female and that cause individuals within each sex to differ from one another in sex-related behaviors. Topics covered include sexual orientation, childhood play; spatial, mathematical, and verbal abilities; nurturance, aggression, dominance, handedness, brain structure, and gender identity.

Central autonomic circuits in the brain and spinal cord are essential to vertebrate life. They control all basic bodily functions, including blood pressure, body temperature regulation, digestion, ...
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Central autonomic circuits in the brain and spinal cord are essential to vertebrate life. They control all basic bodily functions, including blood pressure, body temperature regulation, digestion, and reproduction. This book presents the extraordinary advances that have been made over the last twenty years in the understanding of how our central nervous system controls autonomic function. The first nine chapters describe central autonomic circuits from the cerebral cortex to the periphery. Eight additional chapters address specific bodily functions and their control by central autonomic circuits. Two additional chapters discuss cardio-respiratory integration and regulation of autonomic function by visceral and somatic afferents. All of the chapters are up-to-date and cover topics such as the central autonomic regulation of airways, gastrointestinal function, energy homeostasis, body temperature, and sexual function, reflecting the latest research.Less

Central Regulation of Autonomic Functions

Published in print: 2011-04-01

Central autonomic circuits in the brain and spinal cord are essential to vertebrate life. They control all basic bodily functions, including blood pressure, body temperature regulation, digestion, and reproduction. This book presents the extraordinary advances that have been made over the last twenty years in the understanding of how our central nervous system controls autonomic function. The first nine chapters describe central autonomic circuits from the cerebral cortex to the periphery. Eight additional chapters address specific bodily functions and their control by central autonomic circuits. Two additional chapters discuss cardio-respiratory integration and regulation of autonomic function by visceral and somatic afferents. All of the chapters are up-to-date and cover topics such as the central autonomic regulation of airways, gastrointestinal function, energy homeostasis, body temperature, and sexual function, reflecting the latest research.

This book travels a colorful journey into the fascinatingly diverse world of interneurons, an important class of highly heterogeneous cells found in all cortical neuronal networks. Interneurons are ...
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This book travels a colorful journey into the fascinatingly diverse world of interneurons, an important class of highly heterogeneous cells found in all cortical neuronal networks. Interneurons are known to play key roles in many brain functions, from sensory processing to neuronal oscillations linked to learning and memory. This book aims to provide new insights into the striking degree of cellular diversity found in interneuronal microcircuits. The book discusses the history of research into interneuronal variability, the developmental origins of interneuronal diversity, the functional roles of heterogeneity in neuronal circuits, contemporary interneuronal classification systems, and the genetic and homeostatic mechanisms that shape the degree of cell to cell variability within interneuronal populations. It elaborates on new ideas about interneuronal diversity that rest upon recent theoretical and experimental results, with arguments touching upon evolution, animal behavior, and the mathematical theory of small world networks.Less

Diversity in the Neuronal Machine : Order and Variability in Interneuronal Microcircuits

Ivan Soltesz

Published in print: 2006-02-23

This book travels a colorful journey into the fascinatingly diverse world of interneurons, an important class of highly heterogeneous cells found in all cortical neuronal networks. Interneurons are known to play key roles in many brain functions, from sensory processing to neuronal oscillations linked to learning and memory. This book aims to provide new insights into the striking degree of cellular diversity found in interneuronal microcircuits. The book discusses the history of research into interneuronal variability, the developmental origins of interneuronal diversity, the functional roles of heterogeneity in neuronal circuits, contemporary interneuronal classification systems, and the genetic and homeostatic mechanisms that shape the degree of cell to cell variability within interneuronal populations. It elaborates on new ideas about interneuronal diversity that rest upon recent theoretical and experimental results, with arguments touching upon evolution, animal behavior, and the mathematical theory of small world networks.

This text is the second edition of this book. It expands the widely acclaimed 1981 book, filling more gaps between EEG and the physical sciences. EEG opens a “window on the mind” by finding new ...
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This text is the second edition of this book. It expands the widely acclaimed 1981 book, filling more gaps between EEG and the physical sciences. EEG opens a “window on the mind” by finding new connections between psychology and physiology. Topics include synaptic sources, electrode placement, choice of reference, volume conduction, power and coherence, projection of scalp potentials to dura surface, dynamic signatures of conscious experience, and neural networks immersed in global fields of synaptic action.Less

Electric Fields of the Brain : The neurophysics of EEG

Paul L. NunezRamesh Srinivasan

Published in print: 2006-01-26

This text is the second edition of this book. It expands the widely acclaimed 1981 book, filling more gaps between EEG and the physical sciences. EEG opens a “window on the mind” by finding new connections between psychology and physiology. Topics include synaptic sources, electrode placement, choice of reference, volume conduction, power and coherence, projection of scalp potentials to dura surface, dynamic signatures of conscious experience, and neural networks immersed in global fields of synaptic action.

One of the most fascinating developments in the field of neuroscience in the second half of the 20th century was the discovery of the endogenous capacity of the brain for reorganization during adult ...
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One of the most fascinating developments in the field of neuroscience in the second half of the 20th century was the discovery of the endogenous capacity of the brain for reorganization during adult life. Morphological and functional mechanisms underlying brain plasticity have been extensively explored and characterized. However, our understanding of the functional significance of these plastic changes is still fragmentary. This book shows that brain plasticity plays an essential role in the regulation of hormonal levels. The second aim is to propose that hormones orchestrate the multiple endogenous plastic events of the brain for the generation of adequate physiological and behavioral responses in adaptation to and in prediction of changing life conditions. The book starts by introducing the conceptual backgrounds on the interactions of hormones and brain plasticity. It then devotes itself to the analysis of the role of brain plasticity in the regulation of the activity of endocrine glands. It examines different hormonal influences on brain plasticity. Then, it goes on to cover the interactions of hormones and brain plasticity along the life cycle under physiological and pathological conditions.Less

Hormones and Brain Plasticity

Luis Miguel García-Segura

Published in print: 2009-06-01

One of the most fascinating developments in the field of neuroscience in the second half of the 20th century was the discovery of the endogenous capacity of the brain for reorganization during adult life. Morphological and functional mechanisms underlying brain plasticity have been extensively explored and characterized. However, our understanding of the functional significance of these plastic changes is still fragmentary. This book shows that brain plasticity plays an essential role in the regulation of hormonal levels. The second aim is to propose that hormones orchestrate the multiple endogenous plastic events of the brain for the generation of adequate physiological and behavioral responses in adaptation to and in prediction of changing life conditions. The book starts by introducing the conceptual backgrounds on the interactions of hormones and brain plasticity. It then devotes itself to the analysis of the role of brain plasticity in the regulation of the activity of endocrine glands. It examines different hormonal influences on brain plasticity. Then, it goes on to cover the interactions of hormones and brain plasticity along the life cycle under physiological and pathological conditions.

Life’s Rewards: Linking Dopamine, Incentive Learning, Schizophrenia, and the Mind explains how increased brain dopamine produces reward-related incentive learning, the acquisition by neutral stimuli of increased ability to elicit approach and other responses. Dopamine decreases may produce inverse incentive learning, the loss by stimuli of the ability to elicit approach and other responses. Incentive learning is gradually lost when dopamine receptors are blocked. The brain has multiple memory systems defined as “declarative” and “non-declarative;” incentive learning produces one form of non-declarative memory. People with schizophrenia have hyperdopaminergia, possibly producing excessive incentive learning. Delusions may rely on declarative memory to interpret the world as it appears with excessive incentive learning. Parkinson’s disease, associated with dopamine loss, may involve a loss of incentive learning and increased inverse incentive learning. Drugs of abuse activate dopaminergic neurotransmission, leading to incentive learning about drug-associated stimuli. After withdrawal symptoms have been alleviated by detoxification treatment, drug-associated conditioned incentive stimuli will retain their ability to elicit responses until they are repeatedly experienced in the absence of primary drug rewards. Incentive learning may involve the action of dopamine at dendritic spines of striatal medium spiny neurons that have recently had glutamatergic input from assemblies of cortical neurons activated by environmental and proprioceptive stimuli. Glutamate initiates a wave of phosphorylation normally followed by a wave of phosphatase activity. If dopaminergic neurons fire, stimulation of D1 receptors prolongs the wave of phosphorylation, allowing glutamate synaptic strengthening. Activity in dopaminergic neurons in humans appears to affect mental experience.Less

Richard J. Beninger

Published in print: 2018-07-26

Life’s Rewards: Linking Dopamine, Incentive Learning, Schizophrenia, and the Mind explains how increased brain dopamine produces reward-related incentive learning, the acquisition by neutral stimuli of increased ability to elicit approach and other responses. Dopamine decreases may produce inverse incentive learning, the loss by stimuli of the ability to elicit approach and other responses. Incentive learning is gradually lost when dopamine receptors are blocked. The brain has multiple memory systems defined as “declarative” and “non-declarative;” incentive learning produces one form of non-declarative memory. People with schizophrenia have hyperdopaminergia, possibly producing excessive incentive learning. Delusions may rely on declarative memory to interpret the world as it appears with excessive incentive learning. Parkinson’s disease, associated with dopamine loss, may involve a loss of incentive learning and increased inverse incentive learning. Drugs of abuse activate dopaminergic neurotransmission, leading to incentive learning about drug-associated stimuli. After withdrawal symptoms have been alleviated by detoxification treatment, drug-associated conditioned incentive stimuli will retain their ability to elicit responses until they are repeatedly experienced in the absence of primary drug rewards. Incentive learning may involve the action of dopamine at dendritic spines of striatal medium spiny neurons that have recently had glutamatergic input from assemblies of cortical neurons activated by environmental and proprioceptive stimuli. Glutamate initiates a wave of phosphorylation normally followed by a wave of phosphatase activity. If dopaminergic neurons fire, stimulation of D1 receptors prolongs the wave of phosphorylation, allowing glutamate synaptic strengthening. Activity in dopaminergic neurons in humans appears to affect mental experience.

Studies of mechanisms in the brain that allow complicated things to happen in a coordinated fashion have produced some of the most spectacular discoveries in neuroscience. This book provides support ...
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Studies of mechanisms in the brain that allow complicated things to happen in a coordinated fashion have produced some of the most spectacular discoveries in neuroscience. This book provides support for the idea that spontaneous neuron activity, far from being mere noise, is actually the source of our cognitive abilities. It looks at the co-evolution of structure and function in the mammalian brain, illustrating how self-emerged oscillatory timing is the brains fundamental organizer of neuronal information. The small world-like connectivity of the cerebral cortex allows for global computation on multiple spatial and temporal scales. The perpetual interactions among the multiple network oscillators keep cortical systems in a highly sensitive metastable state and provide energy-efficient synchronizing mechanisms via weak links. In a sequence of cycles, this book travels from the physics of oscillations through neuronal assembly organization to complex cognitive processing and memory storage.Less

Rhythms of the Brain

György Buzsáki

Published in print: 2006-10-26

Studies of mechanisms in the brain that allow complicated things to happen in a coordinated fashion have produced some of the most spectacular discoveries in neuroscience. This book provides support for the idea that spontaneous neuron activity, far from being mere noise, is actually the source of our cognitive abilities. It looks at the co-evolution of structure and function in the mammalian brain, illustrating how self-emerged oscillatory timing is the brains fundamental organizer of neuronal information. The small world-like connectivity of the cerebral cortex allows for global computation on multiple spatial and temporal scales. The perpetual interactions among the multiple network oscillators keep cortical systems in a highly sensitive metastable state and provide energy-efficient synchronizing mechanisms via weak links. In a sequence of cycles, this book travels from the physics of oscillations through neuronal assembly organization to complex cognitive processing and memory storage.

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